Michelin Gala.

The MICHELIN Guide welcomes 10 newcomers to the one star category for the first time. Among them, four offer remarkable Japanese cuisine. Tempura Matsui turns Japanese tempura style into an art form and incorporates the freshest seafood ingredients. Sushi Yasuda, under the leadership of Chef Mitsuru Tamura and his new team, is producing exemplary sushi at a high level. Cagen and Hirohisa complete this year’s new stars offering top notch Japanese cuisine. (Press release from Michelin)
This year’s selection confirms the dynamism of the culinary scene in all boroughs, notably Brooklyn and Queens. Brooklyn earns two new one-starred restaurants with vegetarian-focused Semilla and a sophisticated restaurant serving American cuisine, The Finch. Also joining the ranks of the Michelin stars is Somtum Der in the East Village, which was formerly recognized as Bib Gourmand restaurant. Rounding out the new one-starred restaurants are Gabriel Kreuther, Uncle Boons and Rebelle.
The announcement of the MICHELIN Guide selection follows last week’s news that 133 restaurants in New York earned a Bib Gourmand distinction. The MICHELIN Guide New York City 2016, which lists nearly 900 restaurants, goes on sale tomorrow priced at $18.99.
Thanks to the rigorous MICHELIN Guide selection process that is applied independently and consistently around 24 countries, the MICHELIN guide has become an international benchmark in fine dining. The selections of all restaurants in the guide are made by Michelin’s famously anonymous inspectors who dine in the New York City area regularly. These local inspectors are trained to scrupulously apply the same time-tested methods used by Michelin inspectors for many decades throughout the world. This ensures a uniform, international standard of excellence. As a further guarantee of complete objectivity, Michelin inspectors pay all their bills in full, and only the quality of the cuisine is evaluated. To fully assess the quality of a restaurant, the inspectors apply five criteria defined by Michelin: product quality, preparation and flavors, the chef’s personality as revealed through his or her cuisine, value for money, and consistency over time and across the entire menu. These objective criteria are respected by all MICHELIN Guide inspectors, whether in Japan, the United States, China or Europe. They guarantee a consistent selection so that a star restaurant as the same value regardless of whether it is located in Paris, New York or Tokyo.
Michelin has been a pioneering force in advancing mobility through innovation and excellence in manufacturing quality. The company patented the pneumatic, or air-filled, tire in the late 1800s. This was a milestone moment in mobility, permitting automobile owners to travel at great length in a single journey. Then, in an effort to prompt travelers to enjoy their newfound mobility, the company created guides and detailed maps to steer travelers on their way. The most famous publication that developed from this is the internationally recognized MICHELIN Guide.